Top Stories»
IOC warns govt to revoke NOC de-registration
KATHMANDU, JAN 15 - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned the government to suspend Nepal over its undue intervention into the affairs of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC).
In a letter issued to the Prime Minister Secretariat Office dated January 12, IOC has given a 30-day ultimatum either to revoke the government’s decision to de-register the NOC or face the consequences of being suspended from the Olympic Movement.
The District Administration Office (DAO), acting on a complaint from the National Sports Council (NSC) over NOC’s apparent non-cooperation, had de-registered NOC on December 31, leading to the freezing of its bank account as well as locking of its office on January 2.
The IOC showed their dissatisfaction over the dissolution of NOC by the government terming the Ministry of Education and Sports’ decision ‘an obvious breach’.
The letter inferring Rule 31.9 of the Olympic Charter charges the government for ignoring the validity granted by the IOC/OCA to NOC, an independent body.
The Rule 31.9 of the Olympic Charter clearly states IOC’s power to suspend or withdraw its recognition to National Olympic Committees in case of ‘infringement’.
In the event of a suspension, Nepal would be restricted from participating in as well as hosting any form of international sporting events that fall under IOC auspices.
"The suspension might severely harm the Nepalese Olympic Movement as a whole," the letter signed by IOC president Jacques Rogge reads.
"And the participation of the athletes of your country in various regional, continental and international sports events, including the next Olympic Games to be held in Athens in August 2004."
Nepal’s participation at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games will be in doubt if the suspension occurs. The SAF Games are due to start from March 29 this year in Islamabad. Apart from this, IOC will stop all their aids for the sports development of the country. The IOC provides Nepal with annual aid of US$ 30,000 besides other supports under its solidarity programmes.
"Now the case is out from our grip and we can only hope the government understands the nature of the issue and changes their decision," NOC president Rukma SJB Rana said at a press conference held today. "Don’t blame us for all these as we tried our best in extending the hand of corporation and collaboration to the National Sports Council (NSC)," he added.
The dispute sparked off between the two sports bodies over NOC elections which according to the NSC were held in ‘closed-doors’ even as the NOC insists that they were held as per IOC norms.
And the situation only got worse by steps taken by Kishore Bahadur Singh, the member-secretary of NSC in dissolving sport associations.
Although the council defends its act as a pure reform programme, the NOC claims the decision was targeted at only those associations with which it has close ties.Posted on: 2004-01-16 03:00
Headlines
Advertisements
